This invention relates generally to the field of torque wrenchs, and more particularly to a novel torque wrench designed to tighten one or more fasteners simultaneously to a certain torque specification.
Conventionally, a variety of torque wrenches have been employed in various mechanical assembling operations to tighten nuts and bolts rapidly and at the same time, to ensure that the parts have been joined together to produce a desired holding action without applying an excessive degree of torque which would tend to weaken or fracture the threads or holding elements of the parts being tightened. Various attempts have been employed to supply special torque wrenches to operate in connection with tightening of parts whereby the degree of torque applied by a wrench is indicated either visually or by feel. Devices of this character tend to increase the coordination and efficiency of the operator and it has been found desirable to provide means, which will indicate automatically when the selected amount of torque has been applied. This desired indication is usually assembled or constructed with a torque wrench itself, which includes a handle grip of the wrench so that the operator will be alerted to the amount of torque being applied.
Further problems have been encountered when employing conventional torque wrenches with certain specialized operations such as two fastener clamps used in many plumbing operations; Specifically, a no hub coupler used to join two sections of pipe. These problems stem largely from the fact that conventional wrenches allow the operator to only tighten one fastener at a time. When the two fasteners on a no hub coupler are not tightened simultaniously it can cause the coupler to buckle on one side and increase the risk of leaking. Furthermore, to insure the fasteners are tightened evenly the operator must constantly switch from one fastener to another while tightening the coupler making the process very slow and inefficient. It is also necessary to have the ability to loosen a fastener, though most conventional torque wrenches will not reverse a fastener without engaging the torque limit action that would hinder such loosening.